Yelp Now Lets Users Post Reviews Directly from their Mobile Devices

As you probably already know, Yelp generates a lot of reviews. A lot of these reviews are also incredibly influential. According to a recent Nielsen survey, 82 percent of Yelp users visit the site when preparing to spend money on a product or service. It’s safe to say that Yelp is one of the first sites which people with spending power go to in order to find more info about a local business.

This is not about to change anytime soon. In fact, you can expect Yelp to start generating even more reviews than ever.

That’s because the review site recently announced that it’s now going to allow users to post reviews directly from their mobile devices. Yelp is rolling out the new mobile-review-writing functionality to all Yelpers – and not just members of its power users (the “Yelp Elite”) – in all 22 countries where the site is active.

Additionally, any photo that a Yelp user has taken of the business being reviewed will appear in-line with the mobile review: kind of like how Yelp on the Web matches photos with reviews on the website. Right now, though, while it’s still being rolled out, some mobile reviews may appear as “tips” in case they are too short. But according to the company, mobile “Yelpers can always go back and add in more detail later to flesh it out into a full-fledged review.”

The new feature will be available on Yelp’s mobile app, which was also recently revamped in order to serve up nearby venue suggestions – a la Foursquare.

“Mobile phone usage has come a long way since the days of the hunt-and-peck, shorthand ‘C U L8R’ texts. Nowadays, people are more mobile-savvy and are becoming used to contributing long-form content directly from their device,” said James Hurley, Mobile Product Manager at Yelp. “Which is why we’re introducing the ability to write and publish reviews on mobile! Yelpers can now contribute their useful, funny and cool reviews directly from their Yelp mobile application (available on iOS and coming soon to Android).”

If you’re a business owner listed on Yelp – well, this gives you one more reason (and opportunity!) to monitor Yelp reviews and engage with on-the-go, mobile-device-carrying users. Because to be sure, Yelpers are out and about, checking reviews and ratings on their phones and tablets to decide where to go. In fact, according to Hurley, almost 10.4 million unique mobile devices use the Yelp mobile app every month.

Migs Bassig

Migs is the Content Manager for ReviewTrackers. He's a creative writer who has helped numerous companies communicate more effectively online, and he loves sharing his local marketing knowledge to help brands and business succeed.